Undead Revolution (⛔☁️)

S8 - 5. [Persona]

As they dragged him deeper into the light that blinding him from above, Katsuki began to sense a shift.

It was subtle at first: an unspoken tension in the air, the way the thugs moved with more purpose, more excitement. They were no longer just dragging a captive; they had something bigger in mind.

Katsuki could feel their eyes on him, hungry and twisted. The air was suffocating with anticipation and he felt it clawing at the edges of his composure. Something was coming, something worse than he could ever anticipate.

That's when one of the thugs stepped forward, a man with a twisted grin and hands that bore the marks of a thousand fights, scarred and calloused.

He moved with a slow, deliberate confidence, his eyes locked on Katsuki's mask with an almost sick fascination. His smile stretched wider as he reached out, his fingers filthy, stained with dirt and dried blood.

"Always hiding behind that mask, aren't you?" The man sneered, his voice low and dripping with contempt. Fingers teasingly traced along the edge of Katsuki's cheek, as if savoring the moment. "What are you so afraid of?"

The words hung in the air and Katsuki's body stiffened, every muscle coiled like a spring, ready to snap. His heart pounded, not just from a tsunami of realization but from the cold spike of fear that pierced through his chest.

They weren't just after Deadpool. They wanted to know who he really was.

No. Katsuki's mind was racing, his senses sharpening to a razor's edge. Not like this.

With a vicious yank, the thug ripped the mask from his head. The small clips barely held, tearing almost instantly.

For a split second, the world seemed to still.

The air felt heavy, like the entirety of the world was holding its breath. The cold night air hit Katsuki's bare face, and he could feel every set of eyes in the vicinity lock on him.

The enemy thugs grinned wickedly, savoring the reveal, but the heroes... the heroes were frozen in shock.

"Wh- What the hell...?" One of the heroes muttered, their voice trembling with disbelief.

Katsuki didn't even need to look at them to know what they were thinking. The silence was deafening. He could feel their confusion, their betrayal. They knew him.

His mind raced, his pulse quickening. They knew who he was now.

Eraserhead's eyes widened, recognition dawning across his face. The hardened pro hero, who rarely showed emotion, was visibly stunned. His voice was barely above a whisper. "Bakugou...?"

The name hung in the air like a death sentence.

For a moment, everything seemed to tilt. The heroes, who had been so sure of themselves just seconds ago, were now staring at him- No.

They were staring at him as Katsuki Bakugou, not as Deadpool.

They were staring as if their entire world had been turned upside down. The boy they thought was dead. The boy who had been one of them.

"Bakugou..." Another hero breathed, as though speaking the name would somehow make sense of the chaos around them.

His eyes widened. No... Stop saying his name. He wasn't... He was Deadpool. He had to be Deadpool.

Katsuki felt a strange numbness spread through him. He had prepared for this moment a thousand times in his head, but now that it was here, now that his secret was laid bare for the world to see, all he felt was... empty.

His gaze flicked to the discarded mask lying on the ground, dust and blood covered. Useless now.

The thugs laughed, patting themselves on the back as if they'd won some grand prize. "Well, well, what do we have here? The mighty Deadpool is just some kid! This's priceless!"

But Katsuki didn't respond. Couldn't respond. His eyes were still locked with Eraserhead's, the weight of the moment pressing down on him like a vice. The disbelief on hero's face was unbearable.

The heroes didn't move, didn't speak. They were still processing the truth, and in that hesitation, Katsuki shut down.

This... Everything was too much.

He had to be Deadpool. He had to.

Word count: 689